Barbara Pocock (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I'm just another rookie in this place, but I want to point out that this bill relies on decades of research about problems for our industrial relations system that have been there for 30 or 40 years. Gender pay equity has sat flat for four decades. Job insecurity in this country is now at a level that makes us an absolute standout in the OECD.

My question, once again, is about millions of people whose experience has not been talked about in this debate today: that's people who are casual, who are on limited term contracts and who have had no security about their work for years over their working lives. They suffer a pay penalty and have insecurity in their jobs. How will this bill help deal with that problem of the 21st century; not the old wars, the wars we're hearing about in other people's questions, but the reality of Australian labour now. How do we get more security there for those millions of workers.